“They’re just astronomical people,” said Robert Rivera with the Marine Corps League’s River Valley Detachment. “Laurel has been part of our Marine Corps detachment ever since it started. She’s the oldest Marine we have.”

In the 1940s, Laurel met a fellow serviceman, married and later had children. She earned an English degree in 1974. Five years later, she was hired as secretary of the Communications and Electronics Command, or CECOM, then later became a procurement specialist. She retired in 1996 at age 73.

It wasn’t until 1993 that she reconnected with Arthur Kidd, whom she met in 1949 when he was serving in the National Guard with her former husband. The pair became traveling companions.

“Many trips later, on Jan. 4, 2000, we were married at sea by the master of the Grand Princess,” she wrote.

Laurel Kidd has fostered a lifelong interest in the arts that includes writing and painting. She belongs to the Center for Art and Education in Van Buren and two writing groups.

“We both swim at Mercy Fitness Center on a regular basis,” Arthur Kidd said. “We go the Fort Smith Little Theatre and symphony. We just don’t have time to do it all.”